The president of OPEC on Monday defended the oil producer group against U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent demands for higher oil output, saying OPEC does not shoulder the blame.
Trump has accused the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in recent weeks of driving gasoline prices higher and urged the group to do more.
“OPEC alone cannot be blamed for all the problems that are happening in the oil industry, but at the same time we were responsive in terms of the measures we took in our latest meeting in June,”Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries president Suhail al-Mazrouei told Reuters in an interview in Calgary, Alberta.
OPEC agreed in June on a modest increase in oil production starting in July after its leader Saudi Arabia persuaded arch-rival Iran to cooperate, following calls from major consumers to curb rising fuel costs.
Mazrouei said OPEC member crude producers have enough capacity to handle any unforeseen global supply disruptions.
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